Amused and Alarmed

Jan. 30th, 2016

Jan. 30th, 2016

I'm an avid board gamer, but I never cared about chess, probably because other people took it way too seriously. However, one thing I do like about chess, really the only thing, is castling, that move where the king and rook get to swap places. I love that move. I don't care about your king, and whether he lives or dies. The only time I feel I "lose" is if I am somehow prevented from making myself a little fortress with pawn walls.

I was thinking about that because I got a message from a friend apologizing for things a relative of hers said in a facebook comment thread. It took me a while to figure out what she was alluding to, because of course I blocked that user well before the offensive comments happened. In general, if I'm friends with you and you have an obnoxious relative who lives in a different timezone, that relative doesn't exist to me any more than she would in meatspace. To put it in a more Jay-Z way, I brush that dirt off my shoulder. I have enough people who like me, and enough demands on my attention; I don't lose anything by putting up the velvet rope. I recommend it.

I forget aggressive comment moderation isn't everybody's default. And by all means, it was appropriate of my friend to make sure I was ok. But, you know, of course I was. I castled. It's a way better game than whatever it is other people are playing.